Turbo Tax

Turbo tax provides personal tax preperation softwares both for download and online. They have free services for federal taxes for simpler tax returns and provide higher level packages for more complicated tax calculation. The do provide software you can download on your own computer both on mac and pc. I usually prefer this since it gives a bit of privacy but online versions is as good.

You can use your browser to go to the site and start the process and save it and then file it. I really like the e-file feature. For example I filed taxes about a week ago and e-filed a week ago and requested electronic deposit in my account and I already received my refund both from IRS as well as the state. The software and the process itself is easy enough, you can choose to be completely guided or do at your own pace. You can also choose to fill in the forms directly. There is help and explanation at each step and sometimes recommendations to help you make decisions.

I have used Turbo Tax for many years and find it to be easy and efficient way to do taxes. Even if you have a small business and have to make certain calculations which your not comfortable with the software usually takes care of it. You can add any state addition and make necessary adjustments. Turbo tax provides you with the options to file by mail by printing forms and telling you which forms you need to file and at what address or you can choose to file online electronically.

You can also choose to receive refunds by check or electronically deposited directly to your account. Most recent versions do import your previous year information and do connect electronically and import your W-2 information as well as for certain banks and financial institutions you can import your forms for interest, dividends, mortgage, etc. These services help both with accuracy as well as ease of entering data.

Usually at the end of the process the software reviews all the files and asks you to correct mistakes or missing items and then evaluates how safe are you in terms of audits and finally lets you subscribe to a service for where for a nominal fee they will represent you for any tax audits. And as you are working on your taxes you can enter and save information and revisit it later also you can switch between guided vs. actual forms.

If you are filing 1040EZ then you can use their free version of course there is a fee for the state, otherwise they have the Deluxe version for $49.99 which applies to mos basic returns, The premier for $74.99 which helps you with investments and rental property calculations, and The Home and Business for $99.99 which is good if you have a small business or if you are sole proprietor and if you work from home it will help you with all the deductions you are entitled to and do all depreciation calculations too! All and all this is an easy alternative to a tax preparer if you plan to do tax filing yourself.